Re: author names in .c files

[Simon Josefsson]

Jim Meyering <address@hidden> writes:

> Eric Blake wrote:
>> Ralf just pointed this out to me:
>> http://producingoss.com/en/producingoss.html#territoriality
>>
>> For an example of something that looks like territoriality, notice how
>> many tests/test-*.c files are attached to my name:
>>
>> $ git grep 'Eric Blake' tests |wc
>>      95     762    6817
>>
>> Would anyone object if I removed most (if not all) 95 instances of my
>> name from those files, given the argument that 'git shortlog file'
>> will still give a pretty good indication of who the original author
>> was?
>
> From my perspective, putting one's name in a gnulib file
> that you wrote does not mark it as something others should
> not modify.  It's a lot like the Maintainer: field in a
> modules/* file, it gives a hint about who to consult
> if you have a question or who is likely to evaluate a patch.
>
> Of course, you're free to take whatever approach
> you prefer, but realize that at least with me,
> a written-by comment is by no means a "keep out" sign.

The same goes for me.  I too think there is value in having names in
files, I use it to make sure I include the author in To/Cc lines if an
initial post to the bug-gnulib list goes unanswered for example.  Yes, I
could dig into the git log in these situations, but it is more work,
especially if you don't have the git repository available.

/Simon